About Kontakt Player: Some misconceptions and some free libraries

[joeyluck]

So I still don't have the full version of Kontakt and haven't found a reason to buy it ($399 full price). I have however bought a few libraries compatible with Kontakt Player, such as Sonuscore's The Orchestra and NI's Thrill.

There are some free libraries out there, aside from the ones NI offers, that are fully compatible with Kontakt Player, such as Sennheiser's DrumMic'a (thanks to esselfortium for pointing this one out) and Embertone's Arcane (some great sounds in this one, including a nice solo vocal and fun game). And both of these free libraries also come with serials to officially add them to Kontakt Player.

It wasn't clear to me before why some libraries were 'not compatible' with Kontakt Player (thanks to Enochlight for pointing this out). I always figured the full version was simply for those who want to create libraries and the Player version for those who simply want to use them... However, it comes down to licensing with NI and whether the library creators are willing to pay to have the libraries fully compatible with Kontakt Player (not requiring the user to have the full version). More about that pricing here: https://www.native-instruments.com/en/s ... s/pricing/ They have to pay a pretty penny it seems. Looking at that page should make folks especially thankful to designers who do make libraries compatible with Kontakt Player, not to mention the free ones listed above!

But the point of my post here is because I discovered that the FREE libraries I have wanted to try that explain, "REQUIRES FULL VERSION OF KONTAKT! WILL NOT WORK WITH KONTAKT PLAYER!" Actually do work, but they are only limited in time (15 minutes per session). I had completely skipped downloading them before because I thought they simply would not work! I can understand this remark being made in regards to paid libraries, because better safe than sorry with communication with customers, but free ones? Not once with all the free libraries I have encountered, that said they required the full version of Kontakt, did they say that they would still work in the Player version for 15 minutes at a time. And for many of these, the point of them is to try them out, possibly looking to buy a full library it is based on or another library from the designer. Am I the only one who didn't understand that these libraries would still work in Kontakt Player in demo mode?

While on this topic, anybody know of any other free libraries compatible with Kontakt Player? Seems very rare given the cost to do so.

[NekujaK]

I too, only have Kontakt Player, and have accumulated quite a few libraries meant for the full version of Kontakt. As you say, except for the 15 minute limitation, there's no functional difference when using full-Kontakt libraries in Kontakt Player, and I've used many in my compositions.

I always thought the "will not work with Kontakt Player" disclaimer was something that NI required of developers.

The one gotcha to be aware of when using full-Kontakt libraries with Kontakt Player, is that your settings for the library won't be recalled when you open your Reason project at a later time, because the 15-minute time limit will have expired. So I usually bounce all my work with such libraries to audio as I'm working with them, and also note which instruments/settings I used, in case I need to recall the patch. There are times when working like this can be a pain, so I do plan to upgrade to full Kontakt at some point - I'll probably bite the bullet and get Komplete when it goes on sale next.

I don't know of a lot of free Kontakt Player libraries, but kontakthub.com is a good source for paid and free libraries.

Soundiron is probably one of the more generous developers in terms of low-priced Kontakt Player offerings, and they frequently run great sales. And there is A LOT of discussion about Kontakt libraries on the vi-control.net forums. It's a very active forum where developers announce new releases and sales. It's a great community, especially for serious composers.

[sleep1979]

What i dont get is why someone doesnt create a free or cheap player ( i mean a hell of a lot cheaper to developers and give kontakt a run for there money ) and port these libaries to them , i mean this is more of a reason for props to release a cheap sampler vst wise and make it much cheaper to buy i mean some of these £150 libaries would cost £40 if they didnt have to pay ni , and £399 whatever it is just to get all these excellent free libaries hardly makes them seem free does it ? Then we have sfz why are the free libaries not being made /ported to that ?

[NekujaK]

What i dont get is why someone doesnt create a free or cheap player ( i mean a hell of a lot cheaper to developers and give kontakt a run for there money ) and port these libaries to them , i mean this is more of a reason for props to release a cheap sampler vst wise and make it much cheaper to buy i mean some of these £150 libaries would cost £40 if they didnt have to pay ni , and £399 whatever it is just to get all these excellent free libaries hardly makes them seem free does it ? Then we have sfz why are the free libaries not being made /ported to that ?

I'm not a Kontakt developer, so I don't know if there are specific technical advantages to developing libraries for Kontakt, but one clear advantage is installed base. Developers want to reach the largest possible audience, and in today's world, for better or worse, Kontakt owns the market.

There are other sample player technologies out there: UVI Workstation and Galaxy X are just two that come to mind, but they have nowhere near the penetration that Kontakt has. UVI is fairly popular, but the number of third party libraries available for UVI is dwarfed by the sheer volume and variety of third party Kontakt libraries.

Anyone trying to put out a new sample player will have a difficult time convincing developers to jump on board without a substantial user base in place.

Also NI does a good job of supplying hardware controllers that are tightly integrated with Kontakt. And Kontakt isn't just a simple playback device. It contains a robust scripting engine that enables customization and detailed control over sample playback.

I do feel NI charges way too much for Kontakt, which is why I'm still using Kontakt Player, but the formula must be working for them, because there are boatloads of Kontakt developers out there and NI doesn't seem to feel the need to lower prices.

[QVprod]

It's something you find out by accident. Library developers generally put that disclaimer so the customer can't complain that they can only use a product in demo mode (15 mins). As far as owning Kontakt, I think many of us just get Komplete because the price difference between Komplete standard and Kontakt by itself isn't that much especially when it's on sale. Also because Kontakt (via Komplete) is so popular devs don't really have a huge need to pay the exuberant fees to provide libraries.

What i dont get is why someone doesnt create a free or cheap player ( i mean a hell of a lot cheaper to developers and give kontakt a run for there money ) and port these libaries to them , i mean this is more of a reason for props to release a cheap sampler vst wise and make it much cheaper to buy i mean some of these £150 libaries would cost £40 if they didnt have to pay ni , and £399 whatever it is just to get all these excellent free libaries hardly makes them seem free does it ? Then we have sfz why are the free libaries not being made /ported to that ?

The only actual competition to Kontakt is UVI Falcon with UVI workstation being the somewhat equivalent to Kontakt Player. It's not nearly as popular and there are barely any free libraries available for it besides a few things UVI makes themselves. UVI doesn't list it's pricing but I'd have to assume it's not much different than the fees for Kontakt being that the free libraries are so scarce. Native Instruments also just makes better quality libraries which would also make Kontakt far more popular. The UVI made libraries I have are very lack luster. What these platforms have over SFZ is the ability to make libraries that function almost like a plugin, GUIs and all. Sforzando is a free sfz player but also seems limited in comparison despite having gui capabilities.

That said, developers who see value in the expense create their own standalone plugins. Gospel Musicians has made libraries for both, first Kontakt, then moving to UVI then to more recently just releasing their own plugins. East West made Kontakt libraries in the past and now have their own Play engine. Several others have skipped Kontakt/UVI altogether like XLN (Addictive Keys). As Far as free libraries though, you can find several in SFZ format but they're rather limited and not a great advertisement to sell paid products.

[joeyluck]

I too, only have Kontakt Player, and have accumulated quite a few libraries meant for the full version of Kontakt. As you say, except for the 15 minute limitation, there's no functional difference when using full-Kontakt libraries in Kontakt Player, and I've used many in my compositions.

I always thought the "will not work with Kontakt Player" disclaimer was something that NI required of developers.

The one gotcha to be aware of when using full-Kontakt libraries with Kontakt Player, is that your settings for the library won't be recalled when you open your Reason project at a later time, because the 15-minute time limit will have expired. So I usually bounce all my work with such libraries to audio as I'm working with them, and also note which instruments/settings I used, in case I need to recall the patch. There are times when working like this can be a pain, so I do plan to upgrade to full Kontakt at some point - I'll probably bite the bullet and get Komplete when it goes on sale next.

I don't know of a lot of free Kontakt Player libraries, but kontakthub.com is a good source for paid and free libraries.

Soundiron is probably one of the more generous developers in terms of low-priced Kontakt Player offerings, and they frequently run great sales. And there is A LOT of discussion about Kontakt libraries on the vi-control.net forums. It's a very active forum where developers announce new releases and sales. It's a great community, especially for serious composers.

Thanks for the links

Yeah for me it's mostly about trying things out...to get an idea of what I might get in larger paid libraries from the designer...and fun to play around with. So I'm not too worried about the time constraint or recalling settings, but thank you for the tip. I had just been in the dark that I could actually be doing this given what seems to be pretty cut-and-dry disclaimers from designers; making me think I wouldn't be able to use them to any extent without the full version of Kontakt.

All the paid libraries I have bought and the ones I have my eyes on all work with Kontakt Player. I haven't come across many paid libraries that I want that also require me to have the full version of Kontakt, although there are plenty out there.

[esselfortium]

If you've bought some Player-compatible libraries already, you can probably upgrade relatively inexpensively the next time NI puts crossgrades on sale. I was able to crossgrade to the full version of Kontakt 5 for $129 a couple years back.

[joeyluck]

It's something you find out by accident. Library developers generally put that disclaimer so the customer can't complain that they can only use a product in demo mode (15 mins). As far as owning Kontakt, I think many of us just get Komplete because the price difference between Komplete standard and Kontakt by itself isn't that much especially when it's on sale. Also because Kontakt (via Komplete) is so popular devs don't really have a huge need to pay the exuberant fees to provide libraries.

What i dont get is why someone doesnt create a free or cheap player ( i mean a hell of a lot cheaper to developers and give kontakt a run for there money ) and port these libaries to them , i mean this is more of a reason for props to release a cheap sampler vst wise and make it much cheaper to buy i mean some of these £150 libaries would cost £40 if they didnt have to pay ni , and £399 whatever it is just to get all these excellent free libaries hardly makes them seem free does it ? Then we have sfz why are the free libaries not being made /ported to that ?

The only actual competition to Kontakt is UVI Falcon with UVI workstation being the somewhat equivalent to Kontakt Player. It's not nearly as popular and there are barely any free libraries available for it besides a few things UVI makes themselves. UVI doesn't list it's pricing but I'd have to assume it's not much different than the fees for Kontakt being that the free libraries are so scarce. Native Instruments also just makes better quality libraries which would also make Kontakt far more popular. The UVI made libraries I have are very lack luster. What these platforms have over SFZ is the ability to make libraries that function almost like a plugin, GUIs and all. Sforzando is a free sfz player but also seems limited in comparison despite having gui capabilities.

That said, developers who see value in the expense create their own standalone plugins. Gospel Musicians has made libraries for both, first Kontakt, then moving to UVI then to more recently just releasing their own plugins. East West made Kontakt libraries in the past and now have their own Play engine. Several others have skipped Kontakt/UVI altogether like XLN (Addictive Keys). As Far as free libraries though, you can find several in SFZ format but they're rather limited and not a great advertisement to sell paid products.

Yeah I'm not a big fan of Kontakt. I've always been in the camp of wanting developers to release instruments not dependent on Kontakt... but I really wanted a couple libraries only available for Kontakt, so here I am

To answer sleep1979's question, something to keep an eye on is UJAM and their Gorilla Engine (GE or known as IDT2 to some in the RE world). https://gorilla-engine.com/
Just take a look at their licensing. For example: "no up-front costs" and "free versions are free"
It enables designers to release their libraries as independent plugins and to port over existing libraries. And without all the Kontakt licensing confusion and headaches.

[boingy]

I just tried that Embertone Arcane thing. What a weird oddball thing that is. Half game + half instrument does not add up to a sensible whole. I've already reclaimed the disk space!

Nice spot on the drums though.

[joeyluck]

If you've bought some Player-compatible libraries already, you can probably upgrade relatively inexpensively the next time NI puts crossgrades on sale. I was able to crossgrade to the full version of Kontakt 5 for $129 a couple years back.

Yeah I remember you telling me about this and I've had me eye out for it. But I'm also keeping an eye out for libraries I might want to buy that require the full version; which none come to mind at the moment. For now, I'm content using the Player libraries I've paid for and playing around with the the timed demos of the free libraries.

[joeyluck]

I just tried that Embertone Arcane thing. What a weird oddball thing that is. Half game + half instrument does not add up to a sensible whole. I've already reclaimed the disk space!

Nice spot on the drums though.

Yeah what I find most interesting is that not much of it is tied to full libraries (aside from the violin). So I was a bit thrown that they were paying for the privilege to have it 'completely compatible' with Kontakt Player with not much of it really pushing a sale.

I think the vocal is pretty good and I do like the creepy sounds and screams

[NekujaK]

If you've bought some Player-compatible libraries already, you can probably upgrade relatively inexpensively the next time NI puts crossgrades on sale. I was able to crossgrade to the full version of Kontakt 5 for $129 a couple years back.

That was my plan during the last Black Friday sales, but unfortunately, once Kontakt 6 was released the crossgrade price has never dropped below $249. So at this point, I might as well wait for Komplete to go on sale, which happens 2-3 times a year.

[TheGodOfRainbows]

There are some free libraries out there, aside from the ones NI offers, that are fully compatible with Kontakt Player, such as Sennheiser's DrumMic'a (thanks to esselfortium for pointing this one out) and Embertone's Arcane (some great sounds in this one, including a nice solo vocal and fun game). And both of these free libraries also come with serials to officially add them to Kontakt Player.

That Embertone's Arcane solo female alto legato patch is awesome, and free! I went looking for the paid version, and it seems there isn't one!? Weird. Thanks for pointing these out Joey. I haven't checked out the drums yet.

[joeyluck]

There are some free libraries out there, aside from the ones NI offers, that are fully compatible with Kontakt Player, such as Sennheiser's DrumMic'a (thanks to esselfortium for pointing this one out) and Embertone's Arcane (some great sounds in this one, including a nice solo vocal and fun game). And both of these free libraries also come with serials to officially add them to Kontakt Player.

That Embertone's Arcane solo female alto legato patch is awesome, and free! I went looking for the paid version, and it seems there isn't one!? Weird. Thanks for pointing these out Joey. I haven't checked out the drums yet.

Yeah and the interface they use is from a different library, RealiVox Blue by Realitone (which they confess they use just to confuse the user lol). Not sure, but I guess the companies are associated in some way?

It's nice to have a good legato vocal. I purchased ERA II Vocal Codex that runs on Best Service's Engine, which is awesome and I really like, but for those who don't have something similar (and since Humana still lacks a nice legato...which I hope they can fix someday), this is definitely worth picking up just for the legato vocal. No way that I can figure to turn off or adjust the reverb though... Sounds good, but wish I could adjust it or turn it off to make it easier to mix with other elements using the same reverb.

[sleep1979]

Spitfire audio with thier labs series ( even though im not using them at the moment ) is a nice thing
And about the best alternative thing to free kontakt libaries out there

[sleep1979]

It's something you find out by accident. Library developers generally put that disclaimer so the customer can't complain that they can only use a product in demo mode (15 mins). As far as owning Kontakt, I think many of us just get Komplete because the price difference between Komplete standard and Kontakt by itself isn't that much especially when it's on sale. Also because Kontakt (via Komplete) is so popular devs don't really have a huge need to pay the exuberant fees to provide libraries.



The only actual competition to Kontakt is UVI Falcon with UVI workstation being the somewhat equivalent to Kontakt Player. It's not nearly as popular and there are barely any free libraries available for it besides a few things UVI makes themselves. UVI doesn't list it's pricing but I'd have to assume it's not much different than the fees for Kontakt being that the free libraries are so scarce. Native Instruments also just makes better quality libraries which would also make Kontakt far more popular. The UVI made libraries I have are very lack luster. What these platforms have over SFZ is the ability to make libraries that function almost like a plugin, GUIs and all. Sforzando is a free sfz player but also seems limited in comparison despite having gui capabilities.

That said, developers who see value in the expense create their own standalone plugins. Gospel Musicians has made libraries for both, first Kontakt, then moving to UVI then to more recently just releasing their own plugins. East West made Kontakt libraries in the past and now have their own Play engine. Several others have skipped Kontakt/UVI altogether like XLN (Addictive Keys). As Far as free libraries though, you can find several in SFZ format but they're rather limited and not a great advertisement to sell paid products.

Yeah I'm not a big fan of Kontakt. I've always been in the camp of wanting developers to release instruments not dependent on Kontakt... but I really wanted a couple libraries only available for Kontakt, so here I am

To answer sleep1979's question, something to keep an eye on is UJAM and their Gorilla Engine (GE or known as IDT2 to some in the RE world). https://gorilla-engine.com/
Just take a look at their licensing. For example: "no up-front costs" and "free versions are free"
It enables designers to release their libraries as independent plugins and to port over existing libraries. And without all the Kontakt licensing confusion and headaches.

Looks good joe , but not many people using it at the moment hopefully in the future